Proposal COM (2010) 395 final : Concrete recommendations from the health and safety perspective

1. Proposal COM (2010) 395 final:Concrete recommendationsfrom the health and safety perspective Stefano Boy, Engineer Paolo Derosas, Lawyer European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) - Health and Safety Department Public hearing on "Agricultural and forestry vehicles: a new regulatory framework – 12 April 2011

2. Proposal's objectives Explanatory Memorandum (…) ensuring the functioning of the internal market while at the same time providing for a high level of road and occupational safety and environmental protection. Recital (3) (…) this Regulation should (…) lay down only fundamental provisions on road safety, occupational safety and environmental performance and delegate to the Commission the power to lay down the technical specifications in delegated acts 2 sboy@etui.org

3. 2009/76 2010/52 2010/62 2003/37 No new requirements Article 8 - Requirements on occupational safety (I) 3 sboy@etui.org

4. Article 8 - The additional risks emerging from workers' feedback + (n) Reasonablyforeseeable misuse (attention to retractable ROPS) (o) Unintentional movement (p) Rupture of flexibles pipes carrying fluids & errors of fittings (q) Risk of fire (r ) Ergonomic position and accessibility of controls (s) Unintentional activation of controls 4 sboy@etui.org

5. ROPS: the problem of retractable systems Introduced to operate under obstructions or within buildings, It is well established that when a tractor is equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seatbelt, and both are utilized, serious injuries rarely, if ever occur, in the event of an overturn 5 sboy@etui.org

6. ROPS: the accidents with retractable systems (I) 6 sboy@etui.org

7. ROPS: why they are not put back to the upright position? "Foldable ROPS require too much time and effort to manually raise and lower" Ask the worker

8. ROPS: state of the art solutions do exist The misuse of retractable ROPS is a fact. The diligent industry provides design solutions that completely remove the crushing risk in case the tractor overturns. This is an example of correct application of Article 114 of the Treaty that calls for (…) high level of protection, taking account in particular of any new development based on scientific facts. 8

9. Article 8 - A modification is needed The Commission shall be delegated powers to adopt (…) a delegated act laying down the detailed technical requirements (…) for the subjects listed in paragraph 2: such delegated acts will take into account feedback from the workplacein order to ensure that a high level of occupational safety will be obtained. 9 sboy@etui.org

10. Article 8 - The Commission shall be delegated powers to adopt (…) a delegated act laying down the detailed technical requirements (…) for the subjects listed in paragraph 2: such delegated acts will take into account feedback from the workplace in order to ensure that a high level of occupational safety will be obtained. 10 sboy@etui.org

11. Protective measures taken by the DESIGNER From the Action Plan for European Standardisation – Dec. 2009 : Inherent design Safeguarding Information for use Protective measures taken by the USER • Organisation • Additional safeguards • PPE • Training sboy@etui.org 11

12. Technical: Enriching Article 8 with internationally recognized risk factors promoting European good engineering practice Procedural: point A requires an explicit connection between the delegated acts and workplace feedback Legal & Administrative: introducing the market surveillance dimension promoting better cooperation between National type-approval and machinery market control authorities Summary of the recommended amendments 12 sboy@etui.org

13. European legislation and policies supported by standards can only work properly when a number of conditions are respected: A careful assessment of the impact of standardisation on national legislation and sectoral collective agreements The full involvement of societal stakeholders in standardisation 13 sboy@etui.org

14. The evidence: Agricultural production is one of the most hazardous industries, where the leading cause of work-related injuries and deaths is the overturn of tractors The Proposal has the potential to improve the health and safety of millions of workers across Europe. The Proposal can promote the integration of human actions and reactions in tractors' operations and maintenance in the design process: workers' feedback is primordial 14 sboy@etui.org

15. The disproportion of available resources is not fortuitous, it is congenital; If standards are designed to support legislation, the full involvement of societal stakeholders must be achieved through structural support enshrined in legislation, and not by means of remedial, post-mortem measures; 15 sboy@etui.org

16. Less regulation through more standardisation ? Caution when promoting standardisation in areas affecting public and society … … until public and societal actors are given structural support for their full involvement in standardisation Caution when moving from technical to non-technical standards ... 16 sboy@etui.org

17. Monitoring the quality of standards: New Approach: raising inherent safety but also indicating how difficult can be the achievement of consensus even around engineering features ... Market surveillance is essential to spot unsafe products and defective standards … … but what watchdog mechanism will ensure the identification of deficient standards in non-industrial sectors? 17 sboy@etui.org

18. ROPS: the accidents with foldable systems (end)

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